Sorry for the late update. I'll do a double upload to make up for it.

Chapter 2: The Discovery

The Wachowski family had just finished unpacking a bunch of their belongings and were now taking a break.

Tom and Maddie were in the kitchen cooking dinner, while Sonic was in the backyard, playing fetch with Ozzy.

"Come on Ozzy, bring it back! You're so slow I could have fetched the ball 10 times by now, put in some effort! Bring it back already." Sonic clapped his hands encouragingly at the dog as he trotted up to the hedgehog obediently, holding the tennis ball in his mouth. He dropped the ball at his feet and Sonic bent down to pick it up. "Finally, good boy! Only took you ages, you're like an old man. I know you can do better. We're going to go long this time, so hurry up."

Sonic revved up his arm, using his super speed and threw the ball extremely hard this time. He had been keeping the distance of the fetch just a few yards away, but he wanted to send the ball a bit farther this time, to see just how far the fluffy golden retriever was willing to go. They were facing the house a bit so that they wouldn't lose the ball easily, not realizing how much of a mistake this was. He flinched when he heard a loud crash, the sound of a glass window breaking. "Uh oh."

With a pit in his stomach, the blue blur went towards the crash, ready to face the music on what kind of damage he had caused. He pushed past the ferns and hedges, trying to see the window that he had broken. He couldn't find anything though. "Where…?"

Suddenly, Ozzy stood rigid, his fur standing on end and growling lowly at something. Sonic has never seen the dog act this way before and it made him very nervous. Even though he was an animal himself, Sonic didn't have the same senses of normal animals. No Mobian did, which was why Longclaw wasn't able to detect the echidna tribe before they attacked.

"What is it, boy? What's wrong?"

Ozzy didn't move and continued to growl. He was frozen like a statue, his sharp canine teeth showing as saliva drooled from his lips. His entire body was straight, his head hanging low and the whites of his eyes showing. He seemed to be staring at something.

Sonic frowned, his hands resting on his hips as he followed the dog's gaze. All he saw was a plain pile of leaves so it wasn't anything to be scared of. Then, before he turned away, he saw the leaves move as if a breeze just passed by, but the air was perfectly still.

"What in the world?" Sonic frowned, going up to the leaves and pushing them away. As soon as he did so, he gasped at what he saw.

There was a window at ground level, almost unnoticeable. There was a hole in it where he was sure the ball he had thrown went through. He rubbed at the dirt and grime that covered it and pressed his face against the glass, trying to see what secrets it could be hiding. It was incredibly dark down below, but he could clearly see some kind of room underneath the house.

A basement?

"Sonic! Time for dinner!" Maddie called out to him, coming from around the front of the house. There was no door to the backyard, so she had to come outside to get him, still wearing her apron covered in chili sauce and meat blood.

"Maddie! Maddie, get Tom and come quick! I found a basement!"

"Sweetie, this house doesn't have a basement." Maddie frowned in confusion, walking over to him.

"Yes it does, look!" Sonic sat up and pointed at the window. The woman came over and looked down at it.

"Well, I'll be." She gasped softly. "How did you find it?"

"Ozzy pointed it out." Sonic explained, turning back to the dog, who was still in his hostile stance. "I don't know what's wrong. He won't stop growling."

"Maybe he's just afraid you'll fall through, that glass looks pretty thin." Maddie held her hand out to him. "Come on. After dinner we'll get Tom and find out where the entrance is at."

Sonic, Tom, and Maddie were in the front entrance of the house, knocking around on the walls to try and find a hollow space that could possibly lead to the basement. Sonic was at the far end of the room, straight across from the front door, knocking on the wall between the two staircases when suddenly, he heard a sound that was different compared to the knocks he had made before.

"Hey guys! I found something!"

The two adults came running up to him, with Tom carrying a sledgehammer, which made him slightly slower. Tom gently used his free hand to guide Sonic back, then turned his attention back to the wall. He leaned close, pressing his ear against it as he rapped against the wall with his knuckles. "It's definitely hollow." He nodded, standing back up and gripping the hammer. "Alright, stand back, you two."

Sonic and Maddie stood back as Tom swung the sledgehammer over his shoulder and at the wall, breaking through it with ease. Dust was filling the air with every swing and Maddie hurriedly went to a nearby window, opening it to allow some much needed airflow. Bit by bit, Tom tore down the wall over the course of just a few short minutes, creating a jagged hole to a tiny and dark, but plain room. On the other side of the room, there was a large black iron door. Tom went up to it and tried to open it, but it was locked.

"Maddie, do you still have the old house keys?" Tom cautiously asked his beloved, tearing his eyes away from their new discovery.

"Yeah, in the kitchen drawer. I'll go get them." Maddie left the boys, hurrying off to the kitchen. Sonic would have gone with her, but his curiosity was getting the better of him. He wanted to explore! He approached Tom, staring at the door in curiosity.

"Why do you think this area was closed off?" Sonic placed his hand on Tom's leg, looking up at the human. A basement would be an awesome place for a hangout. As a hedgehog, it felt only natural they lived somewhat underground. Afterall, he did used to live in a cave.

"Not sure, buddy." Tom frowned, setting his sledgehammer against the destroyed wall. He dusted his hands off on his pants, glancing briefly back to the kitchen. Still no Maddie. "This house used to belong to an old famous painter named BlackWood. It's hard to say what could've happened and what he could've done."

"BlackWood… is that what the BW stands for on the shield outside above the door?" Sonic rocked on his heels, following Tom's gaze. He was tempted to run into the kitchen and search every drawer at this rate if Maddie hadn't found it, but he wasn't willing to leave Tom's side yet.

"Sure is." Tom nodded and walked around the tiny room, ensuring they weren't missing anything. Sonic quickly followed, though he found himself never letting the door out of his sight. "Lord BlackWood, famous painter from Rhode Island, owner of BlackWood Manor, that's this house."

"Rhode Island?" Sonic frowned. "What was he doing all the way here in Montana?"

"The countryside can work wonders for inspiration and creativity." Tom explained. "He may have come for just that, saw how beautiful Montana is, and decided not to leave. After all, that's how you feel, right?"

"... Yeah, I guess you're right."

"Here are the keys." Maddie announced as she came rushing back with said items. She handed them to her husband, who then searched through the keys and discovered an old looking black key that he didn't remember using on any of the doors to the house before.

Taking the chance, Tom held the key up to the lock and stuck it inside, twisting it to the right and smiling in satisfaction as he heard a clunky click of the lock opening. He took the key back out, placed them in his pocket and shoved the door open. The black iron door scraped and squealed loudly, as if moaning in pain from all the years of not being moved. As soon as the door was fully open, Tom grabbed the flashlight that was hooked to his belt and turned it on, shining it down into the secret room.

"Wow…" Sonic gasped as he took a peek inside with the human man.

The basement was absolutely huge, with a large black iron staircase leading down to a concrete floor, which expanded out to make the room almost as big as the library upstairs. Besides Tom's flashlight, the only light illuminating the basement was the light from the garden window located at the far end of the ceiling, with its hole in it that Sonic had accidently created with the tennis ball.

The smell of old rot, paint, and charcoal hung in the air, making the family cover their noses at the first scent of it. They carefully went down the rusty old stairs, stepping lightly in case it wasn't strong enough to hold them after years of neglect. There were cobwebs everywhere along the ceiling. Dust and dirt covered the ground, their feet leaving a trail of footprints with every step. Maddie saw a large workbench covered in old paint supplies and large parchment paper. She went over to it to investigate.

Old works of beautiful sceneries covered the bench. The smell of old paint was coming from the general area, most likely from the actual paint bottles that littered the table. Maddie picked up a few of the old paintings carefully, being mindful of their fragile age. She smiled fondly at some of the more clearer works of art, and on one of them, she could actually make out the initials of BW on the corner of the sheet. It was then that she pieced together what they had actually discovered.

"Boys…" She said to them. "This is it."

"What's it?" Sonic asked her.

"This is Lord BlackWood's workshop. This is where he made all of his masterpieces."

"It makes sense." Tom nodded, shining the flashlight around the large room. "It's big, quiet, and out of the way of anyone that may have been upstairs."

"I don't know." Sonic frowned. "Seems kinda lonely."

"Sometimes the best work is done when we're alone." Maddie pointed out. "Brings more focus."

"I guess." Sonic shrugged. He frowned in curiosity when he found a string laying against the wall, attached to something that seemed to be drilled into the wall high up. "Hey, what's this?"

"That's a bell ringer." Tom explained, coming up to the hedgehog and observing the string with him. "This is what BlackWood must've used to summon his servants when he was down here. Go ahead Sonic. Give it a pull."

His curiosity growing, Sonic grabbed onto the string and gave it a big pull. The family was silent, eager to hear the faint sound of a tea bell. Tom and Maddie didn't hear anything, but Sonic's sensitive ears twitched in excitement as he heard a faint ringing coming from upstairs. "I hear it!"

"The bell still works." Maddie chuckled. "I wonder what else could be down here."

Sonic gave the ringer another pull, chuckling at the sound of the bell upstairs. Sounded like it was coming from the kitchen. He wanted to see if his theory was correct, so he let go of the rope and turned to run upstairs to check. However, when he did so, something on the other side of the wall caught his attention. There was a large white sheet, hung up by rusted golden hooks drilled into the concrete and covering most of the wall, but he could see what looked like to be a painting of the tree outside by the pond.

Curious, he went over to the sheet and pulled it down, popping it off of its hooks. He immediately regretted the action once he saw what was on the other side.

The painting was nothing Sonic was expecting. Besides the fact it was huge, it was terribly grim and dark. Two almost human-shaped trees were in the center, void of any life with the pale fleshy wood. The hand-like branches were grasping a screaming child, dangling him. It appeared he was trapped in their cage-like grasp, waving him above a pit that was surely death. In the dark pit were multiple pairs of red glowing eyes. Long monstrous hands reached out of the pit, stretching upwards towards the child.

The entire painting was painted in a dull, almost lifeless yellow. The edges of the piece were black and it looked like the dark colors were trying to seep into the scene, like a sickly mold growing over.

The painting disturbed Sonic so much, that an involuntary whimper came from his throat as he took a step back. He took another step back, not paying attention to what was behind him, and he jumped with a loud startled yelp when he felt a hand lay on his shoulder.

"Whoa, hey buddy, relax." Tom chuckled, trying to keep a light heart about the situation, though he did guide Sonic away from the painting and instead into Maddie's loving embrace. "It's ok. It's just a painting."

"I don't like it though. It's creepy." The hedgehog admitted as he nestled closer. "I really really hate it." While Sonic wasn't a huge fan of art and certainly wasn't one to judge, something about it was making his quills stand up.

"It is a bit disturbing," Maddie frowned, holding Sonic closer. "The rest of his work was much more uplifting than this. I wonder what possessed him to draw something so... creepy. It's the biggest piece in this room too, looks like the latest," she made a brief motion to all the paint supplies scattered on the floor near the painting. Many of the lids were off, the paint completely dried and covered in dust from years of neglect. It was hard to tell what color was in each can now.

"I dunno, maybe the guy was just going through stuff. Every person hits a rough patch," Tom shrugged his shoulders. "He probably had to vent it out somehow, and if painting is his passion there was no better way. I do wonder what gave him his inspiration for such a... ominous painting."

"What kind of inspiration would that be?" Sonic grimaced, a shutter going down his spine. His quills perked up, on edge and ready to defend. Sonic pulled away from Maddie, just to assure he wouldn't accidentally stick her. The longer he stayed here the more he felt the need to run out of the house, maybe all the way back to their old one which didn't have such a creepy basement.

"If you really hate it that much, we could cover it up again." Maddie dejectedly mumbled as she stepped closer to the piece, looking up at the daunting canvas. "Best to cover it anyways so the dust doesn't damage it."

Sonic took a step back, letting his eyes wander to the dark corners of the basement. While this was all nice, he still needed to find the ball before-

"Sonic, if Ozzy just pointed it out to you, how is the tennis ball in here," Tom hummed. He was looking near the back corner of the room. The small yellow ball was almost glowing as the light streamed in from the broken window, landing right on the ball.

Busted.

"I can totally explain," Sonic tried to brush off easily... Then dashed forward and picked up the ball in a blur of speed, hiding it behind his back. "Ozzy did it."

"Right right," Tom chuckled and looked towards Maddie. "Anyways it's a school night so you know what that means right?"

"Time for bed, I'm assuming?" Sonic grumbled softly as he marched back over to the humans.

"Try to be more careful next time you play with Ozzy, Sonic." Maddie gently scolded as she walked back over to the boys, the painting finally recovered and out of sight.

"I will, I promise." And with that, he ran upstairs to get ready for bed, still unable to shake the chilling feeling that chilled every quill to the very tip. It was so dumb, why was a painting giving him so much trouble?

As Maddie and Tom left the basement to assure Sonic was actually getting ready for bed, Ozzy stood at the top of the stairs. He was stiff as a board, trying to resist growling as he heard the airy whispers that followed them. No one seemed to hear the soft calls, repeating Sonic's name in hopes of luring him back down.

"Ozzy, let's go!" Tom called back without much thought.

Ozzy growled, but after a long moment, he ran up the stairs to go to Sonic. The dog wanted nothing to do with the basement.